Apocryphal Beloved
by Jayzsha
Summary: She was Sky Brando and he was Dio Brando. Despite being siblings, they don't get along with each other. But regardless of everything, even they sky falls down above them or the earth cracks under them, they can look and watch one another's back because that's what their mother taught them. Unceasingly and unconditionally to each other. [ON HOLD INDEFINITELY]
1. Arise

OH NO! What the hell is this?! I wrote another fic when I'm supposed to be updating my fics?! Well, I can't help myself. I've got an active imagination and if I can't write down what's on my head, I would get a headache. That's my problem and why I got many in-progress fics in my profile.

As the title suggest, this story will talk about _love._ But unfortunately, I'm not talking about _romantic love. _At least, _not yet._ We'll be talking about _other types of love_ rather than romantic love. Why not romantic love? Well, that's on me I guess. I can't write _romance_—the type that implies passion between lovers and also because I'm not interested about it. Instead, I'm more fascinated the other types of it. And I've been _wanting_ to write about it and I thought this would be my opportunity.

Alright, enough with all the talks! Let's get on with the full summary below!

Chapter unedited. There might be some mistakes.

* * *

_**Arise, BRANDO**_

* * *

_A story of fairy tale… a tale of every young women's dream.  
A prince; a charming individual and a dashing smile with a penchant for various topic.  
A blushing maid; a damsel in distress who wanted to be saved, wanting to leave her stifling home.  
And most of all…  
Love; an unconditional emotion between lovers.  
A kind of tale that transcends fiction and reality. Even existing in dreams.  
Yes… even if it was only a dream, for this particular maiden, it was already more than enough._

* * *

Helen Brando _ne__é_ Victorious was satisfied with her life. She fell in love and married the man she loves. She ran away from her home when her parents disapproves of their passion and now lives in the home with the man she loves. And a growing seed is budding within her, created by the union between her and the man she loves.

_Ah…_ _it was like a dream come true._

This everlasting love between her and the man she loves… she hoped it will stay forever, unchangingly and ceaselessly. With this growing life that was planted within her, it would surely make their love in each other last for eternity. As long as she will nurture this, as long as she will cherish the child as it comes out in this world, she will love the child the same as she cared for the man she loves.

And she hoped… that the man she loves also thought the same thing as her, loving and caring the child created by their passionate union.

_And it will be a dream she looked forward into the future._

* * *

Helen conceived a child with hair and eyes of gold. It was a boy, a healthy baby boy, crying in her bosom. Seeing and hearing her baby crying beside her, she can't stop the tears flowing from her eyes. This child is the symbol of union between her and the man she loves and he finally came in this world. She will protect him and nurture as he will grow until his adulthood. This baby boy will be her symbol of conviction.

And then another one came in their doorstep. A healthy baby girl with hair and eyes as white as pearl.

It was a strange newborn child, an albino, her distant memory recalled but doesn't seem to be one since the child wasn't white as sheet, only fair and not looking sickly at all. But despite of the baby girl's bizarre complexion, she accepted her as if she was her own child.

The boy's name will be _Dio_ after the brilliant Diamond, and the Italian word of God. The girl's name will be _Sky_ after the Heavenly Sky, symbolizing the home where Gods dwell. And both of them will be the catalyst of the bond between her and the man she loves.

_But that night, they got into a quarrel for the first time._

* * *

It has been a year since the baby siblings came to Helen and they had grown into healthy small children. Dio has the potential to grow into a strong and brilliant boy, she witnessed it when he can walked and stand on his own and can already form sentences, although still gibberish, with 'mama', 'papa', even the formal 'mother', 'father', but one thing that stand out the most was when Dio pointed at his father and said to him, 'croak', which immediately broke her into tears of laughter because Dio just unknowingly called his father a frog.

But unfortunately, his father and the man she loves didn't agree at Dio's accidental humor. For some reason, ever since the babies, their relationship has turned into a bad state. He always smells alcohol whenever he comes into bed and sometimes doesn't arrive home and only comes back in the morning. There's a certain itch in the back of her head at the signs she can see that maybe… _maybe he…_ but she refused to believe. Despite his bad side, she knows that the man she loves is still there.

And as for Sky… the girl was always the subject of Helen's worry. She can definitely see the same potential as Dio, slowly catching up to him as she can stand up on her own but at times, she can't balance herself and just crawl. But the cause of her worry was because the girl easily cry over smallest thing like loudly closing the door as if she was startled. She was hard to comfort compared to Dio and it takes hours to calm her down until she falls asleep from exhaustion of her cries.

That wasn't the thing that worried her the most. In fact, it was because she _won't_ speak at all. Even though she can make small noises like yelping and crying, even _laugh_ at some point but she can't _talk—_even only as gibberish or maybe even just a single word, there was nothing at all.

She wondered if there's something wrong with her. But she can't see anything from her. Was there a cause of her silence? Is she afraid of talking? Was there something she was afraid of?

She doesn't know. All she can hope when she grows up, she will finally speak.

* * *

Helen can see Dio will grow up to be a handsome man. With his blonde hair and gold eyes that enhances his look, she knows he will become a charming man. He would become someone's prince—to a princess with fair kindness. And then, they would fall in love with each other, lived together and had children. Ah… what a perfect future. It would be too good to be true. But she can't force her own vision to him, she knows he has his own will and his own grasp of future. She can't control him with every things he will do but she wanted him to have a good future and not live through suffering.

She never wanted him or Sky to suffer, the kind of suffering she experienced under the man she loves. Three years of drinking and coming home late at night, violence eventually became a prominent occurrence since then. But she was fine with it. As long as he does it in their bedroom, obscured from the eyes of the siblings—their children, she is determined to endure it. He may order her to drag herself in the mud, bathe herself in a dirty river, she trust that the _man she loves_ is still there. He's just there, hidden behind his eyes, hidden within his crooked attitude.

_She trust him._

But despite herself, there are times her trust would wane—sometimes spontaneously when they had their usual fights. But in the end, she's still firm of her trust of him. She will never give up on him. And the reason why she never gave up is because of Sky.

Even though she still haven't spoken a single word ever since, the girl would always hug her every morning, eventually turning into a routine that she found herself looking forward when morning comes as if Sky knew she was in pain, easing her into her soft comfort of embrace. She would held her in her arms in return, silently crying at the crown of her head and allowed herself to drown in her tears.

_If Dio is her Dream, then Sky is her Hope._

Just like her brother, she can see a beautiful woman that will be turning heads of every men in the room. But compared to Dio, her beauty is more _ethereal_, possibly enhanced by her white hair and steel gray eyes. Helen wondered about Sky's biological parents to have this waiflike appearance of hers but she guessed that didn't matter anymore. If they abandoned her in their doorstep, they must have no longer needed her and rejected her by turning her into a Brando.

But still, it worries her. She doesn't want her daughter to grown up mute. She _knows_ she can speak but Sky preventing herself from doing it for some reason. Every time she would teach Dio how to read and write, she would bring her in their session, hoping that through her lesson, she would speak—even _just_ for a single word and it would be more than enough. But instead, she found out that Sky was a proficient in writing than Dio who was proficient in speaking.

Losing all hope, she decided to take the last straw as she went to church and prayed.

_Then one year later, Sky finally spoke._

* * *

Helen had started wearing longer dresses with longer sleeves. The reason was already obvious. She is determined to not show _anything_ to her children—_their_ children. She refused to show any signs of marks under her garments. She will stay defiant until the end.

The beatings had worsen everyday ever since she had become a devout follower of church. The reason behind it was more than enough. It was to give thanks to the Lord for the miracle He bestowed to her daughter who can finally speak and is catching fast to Dio, her brother in their lesson as she found out that Sky was a fast learner. She thankful of all the things He granted upon them.

The man she… no, _Dario_ had become an abusive husband and she hoped he would stay that way, not inflicting pain to their... _does he even see the siblings, especially Sky as their children?_ But that doesn't matter. The fact that he haven't raised a hand against them was more than enough.

The lesson she gave to the siblings became lessen since she became a follower. But she made sure in every spare time she got, she would dedicate herself to Dio and Sky, teaching everything she had learned when she still under the grasp of her parents, bringing them books to read for them.

It was probably the happiest moment in her life. Even though she was free from her own delusions of love but she was still tied to it. But that didn't matter. Seeing how her children growing brilliantly on their own.

_She hoped it will stay like this forever, unchangingly and ceaselessly._

* * *

But two years later, everything came into worse. When Helen came home from the usual session from the church, she was shocked at the sight of Dio tending the bloodied red cheek of Sky. She went to them and asked what happened. Sky answered—and admitted that she was bullied by other children, the wound on her cheek was the aftermath when Sky fought back against them. Dio attested with her, telling his mother that he encouraged Sky to fight back if everything has gone into worse.

She wanted to scold both of them. Dio for telling his sister to get into fight and Sky for her unladylike behavior but she decided against it. Scolding is not what they wanted, especially for Sky as Helen attended her wounds before her daughter went for a bath, leaving her and Dio in the living room.

And then Dio told her the truth.

"_It's not a bully. She wasn't bullied the whole time. It was Father who did it."_

And her blood boiled in anger.

It was the first time she dominated an argument against Dario. She screamed louder than him, fought harder than him, cursed vulgarly than him; it was the first time she felt this kid of exhilaration—fueled in rage for the sake of her daughter. If only, _if only_, he didn't raise his hand against Sky, this side of her would not have awaken. Her anger was not perverse nor driven with pettiness, she's genuine having a _war_ against her abusive husband who had made her life miserable ever since Dio and Sky came to their lives.

_So this is why they said a mother's rage is not to be underestimated. _

That's what Helen realized through their dispute as Dario ignored her for the following days before he'd go back to his abusive self.

* * *

In the following year, Helen noticed her deteriorating health. The figure that she been proudly nurturing since her youth was now barely there, the outline of her ribs was getting more prominent if she stands in front of her mirror and her former unblemished skin was now covered in abuse and bruises.

_To think she got this in return for the sake of love…_ It wasn't funny. She can't even find an irony about it. She wanted to scold her foolish self, go back in time and slap herself silly that not all fairy tales ends in happy ending, especially if you fall in love to a wrong person.

She sighed. The more she stays with Dario, the more her days gets numbered. But she had to stay strong, she still had Dio and Sky to take care herself. She can't trust Dario with them living under his thumb, she won't allow that to happen. She can't let him influence them with his… _smelly, foul_ attitude and grow into a mentally unstable adults.

_Don't dwell in the negatives, stay positive!_ She reminded herself. Even though she's no longer frequently went the church, no longer a devout follower, she still visits the church whenever she had time since she had dedicated herself to teach Dio and Sky to various, complicated topics upon their request. And she can't exactly refuse their call.

It was a short-lived happiness as she found out in the following months that she had an incurable illness.

* * *

Helen won't tell them. They _can't_ know the truth. It will only sadden them. Dario _especially_ doesn't need to know. He doesn't deserve it. She don't want his pity if he suddenly pretends to care about her today then slap her senselessly for tomorrow. And if he does care, she wanted him to suffer through it. He can cry to her, apologize to her, and beg for forgiveness to her but no matter what, she will never return the gesture. He would have to do that when she was already in her grave.

It has been a year since she found out about her sickness. _Incurable_ might not be the right word about her sickness; they still haven't found out the cure of it. Some medicine are still in its testing stages so they can't carelessly give it away, especially to a commoner woman like her, fearing that it might worsen the illness instead of curing it.

Putting that grim thought aside, Dio and Sky are now eight years old. If they were born in noble family, Dio would definitely come out as top student, mastering everything without a sweat. And Sky would closely follow after him, a student so good at everything yet not mastering all of it. Helen can attest to that as their personal teacher, home schooling them.

The problem about Sky's muteness was no longer there, even though there are still moments of silence but at least it was a contemplative silence. And she had a terrible penchant for asking questions in curiosity; if you don't answer her questions immediately, she will follow you stubbornly until she got her answer. But at least it was more than enough, she was no longer preventing herself to speak. Helen accepted that attitude and she eventually found it as a charming side about her.

Ah… seeing _her_ children growing into a healthy young man and woman—she wished she can see that future. She wanted to witness their experiences in life, teach them how to overcome it, lift them up if they feel down and push them forward to the future—she wanted to become their observer. If her illness takes her first than her will to survive, she had no choice. Every organism in this world dies at some point and the human beings are no different. She will accept death and she doesn't fear it. She will resign to it if the Grim Reaper decides it is finally her time to pass on.

Perhaps that resignation of hers influenced her at some point, where Helen no longer fights back against Dario. She eventually thought to herself that if she is going to die soon, might as well Dario hasten it with his abuse. Just like her, Dario will die soon but despite herself, she was no killer—she _refuse_ to go down in the path of darkness and killing him would be too good for him. She wanted him to suffer _greatly_ by living miserably.

With all those thoughts swirling intensely in her brain, she sat beside the window, gazing outside the window and listening to the heavy rain from the graying skies. _The sky is crying._ She chuckled humorlessly at her own metaphor. With all the vast clouds above the heavens, there is no way the sky is crying for her. She's just a single mortal in this endless world, dwelled by beings with different standings and understandings how the world works. And there's no way the world knows about her, the feelings she carried, the hardships she carried, the wounds she bear, it can't possibly cry for her, let alone the sky.

She sighed. But still, she is tired. She is tired of everything. She wanted to give up. She wanted to leave but she can't. She bring herself to walk away from the man whom she loved in the past because… she laughed, _because there's a certain part of her that still cared about him._

What a bad joke. What a life she had led herself into. Despite Dario had mistreated her multiple times, she still… _still…_ but she can understand. Strangely, she can understand why she feels like that. After all, she is the man she chose and continued to stick with him, who else would she latched into? She gave her affections to him, gave up her noble status for him and surrendered her body to him, why would she not give up on him?

_Because her pride would not allow her._

She wanted to laugh at her own realization. Unbelievable, it was almost unreasonable but she can understand. Of course, she can understand. Who else who can know about herself but herself? It was laughable. Her life was a comedy, and people will surely laugh at her. She was pathetic and foolish, to the point where her foolishness led her life. It was a one big joke that she can't help but laugh to herself.

No matter. That realization won't change a thing. Sooner or later, she will die soon. With all the burdens she carried and the awareness she recognized about herself, she will carry it to the grave.

It was time to rest, leaning back at her chair. She is tired for today and the siblings are already fast asleep. And when tomorrow comes, everything will continue as usual.

She closed her eyes as she drowned in her dreams.

And the last thing she can remember is _her_ Sky crying beside her.

_She smiled._

* * *

_Helen Victorious… even if she didn't lead a victorious life, she was satisfied enough.  
For now, the curtain falls for our fallen princess.  
The story will continue at the perspective of our main characters, Dio and Sky._

* * *

***writes **_**Dio is her Dream, Sky is her Hope**_** part* *Hopes and Dreams from Undertale suddenly plays***

**Man, this was depressing as hell to write… this might be the first time I wrote a chapter where it spirals into a character's death…**

**Anyway, when is the next update, you might wonder? It depends how this chapter reception to you readers. Reviews, follows and favs is the lifeline of this story.**


	2. Observation

Takes place in a few days before Part I starts. Sky and Dio are both 12-13 years old, four years after their mother's death. Every chapter will focus on their POVs. But as story goes on, the POVs might increase, focusing on other characters.

(Chapter unedited.)

* * *

_**Observation, SKY**_

* * *

The heating sun above her are slowly getting her, sitting at the lone swing by herself—as she prefers—and wondered if a human being like her would melt under it. She scoffed. That's impossible. How can a flesh and blood easily melt her at this puny heat when she can always run away to a nearby shade? She's not an object—a non-living object that waits itself to be melted under this heating weather, slowly getting herself to death.

But why does she not run away under this heat? Well… she heard a saying that one of the best hiding techniques is to hide out in the open, blending yourself among the crowd and trick the seeker to look at you while not recognizing you. In other words, she was hiding from someone. She was playing a game— not _that_ kind of game, but still a game nonetheless. And the seeker of this hide-and-seek game is—

_Thunk!_

"Ow!" She yelped as she held her head in pain when someone '_thunk!'_ –ed her as she looked behind her to see the perpetrator. "What was that for, Dio?! That wasn't part of the game!"

Without saying a word to her, he took her hat from her head. She gasped in realization that he took it when he decked her in the head and ran after him, trying to snatch her hat from him. But Dio took advantage of his height and raised it above his head. When he saw her stopped reaching the hat from him, he took this opportunity to talk with her.

"Game? What game are you talking about? Are you treating this all as a game to you, Sky?"

She glowered at him with all her might. "We're children, Dio. We should act like one and play games with each other."

He scowled at her in return. "Are you seriously taking mother's word with you? That we should play dumb and obey father's words? Do you realize how much suffering mother had to take in our sake while _you_ played your games?"

Sky felt a rush of guilt coming towards her but she didn't let it overtake her. "I know! _I know that the whole time!_ I am not blind to see what kind of suffering mother had! The reason we had to play each other because I wanted to honor mother's memory! That we are _her_ children, not his!"

"That _we_ had to act childish in his presence? That's the dumbest idea I've ever heard. I agree that we had to act like our age in the eyes of others but him? Ridiculous. _I_ don't want to act childish in his vicinity, let alone being under his filthy breath."

She wanted to retort against him, to argue against him but she can't found words to go against him. Playing games with Dio was a selfish request, she knows that, but despite herself, she actually agreed in her brother's word. Just like him, she doesn't want to act like children under their father's fingers— fingers so filthy that she wanted to bathe herself even just by one touch. But unlike her brother, she wasn't particularly pride-oriented and her identity doesn't revolve around it. If the situation demands it, she would threw it away for the sake of herself—and by extension, for her brother. That's why she was asking him to act with her, to act like children when they were never even grew as one.

As if seeing his sister growing silent, he grasped her forearm and dragged her with him. "I didn't search for you because I wanted to play your game. _Father_ is looking for you."

Hearing the no-nonsense tone her brother used with those words, she can only sigh dejectedly. "Yes."

* * *

The first thing she received from her father when she arrived was a typical piercing slap. But she already numb at the pain it brings to her. It may be the first thing she received today, it wasn't the painful slap she felt compared to the first when she received it. And for today, she refused to show pain in front of this filthy father of theirs.

"Where the hell were you when I needed you, Sky?! You know I hate it when you're out sight from me, don't tell me you forgot about it?!"

She huffed inwardly. _Yeah, right. To become your punching bag, that is._

Her head snapped to the side when she received the second bout of his oh-so-usual slap of his.

"Respond, you bitch. What does that mouth of yours do? Shitting?!"

Ignoring the growing anger within her, she curbed her own temper and responded, "I was at the park earlier. Playing with Dio." After she said those words, she saw in the corner of her eyes Dio glaring at her. She made a look at him in response. _You want me to be punished? Then, let's suffer together._

She watched her father walked passed her and walked towards her brother. "And, you…" she heard seething tone of the older man before she flinched and looked away when a slap echoed in the room. Under the crack of her eye, she can see the identical red mark in his brother's face like hers as she winced at the sight of it.

After slapping both siblings, their father—no, _Dario_ seemed to have a change of heart and asked the siblings to go make their usual chore in the house. Dio and Sky wordlessly obeyed their father's words as they went to their assigned work; Dio in the kitchens and Sky... she really hated doing this but it was her job to clean their goddamn father since he can barely get out of his bed—today is obviously the sole exception—and sort of became his caregiver. She saw already him naked than a proper lady should take but unfortunately, she didn't grow into one as long as you have _Dario Brando_ as your father.

_What does her mouth of hers do, shitting? He's wrong. She's the one who's catching his own shit in her hands, not her own mouth._

It was the usual dull, _very boring_ day. Because of the demands of their father, the siblings can't make a spare time to leave the house and mingle around the neighbors and their children. Though, both of them were not very social people, especially Sky since she doesn't know what to say to them and ended up being tolerated—sometimes forgotten—among the children as they play games on their own, Sky being their only witness, not participating and not invited to their presence.

But Sky was fine with all of it. She may not have friends, she still have Dio with her. As long as he never complains when she impulsively want to hug him out of nowhere, she would never be alone in this world. Despite not agreeing her request to play with her, she is fine with his rejection because she knows he doesn't like it. Unlike her who wanted to know what it feels like to be the laughing children around her as they play their games, it was Dio who wanted to mature out of their childhood, seemingly in a hurry to become an adult and leave the house. Sky felt the same way too. She wanted to leave their father to his own devices but she can't. Even though she can find a reason to leave, she bring herself to do it. After all, Mother didn't leave him on his own so there must be some kind of reason that she didn't left him. Sky trusted her mother that there must _something_ in their father that their mother only saw in him.

When she was still busy cleaning the house since Dio went out to buy their food necessity, she looked outside the window and realized that it is already sunset. _When you have your mind occupied all day, the sun seem to running so fast in the sky,_ she thought, gazing outside of the glaring sun in her leisure since Dario was fast asleep in his bed upstairs. Her heart skipped a beat when she heard a loud 'bang!' at the door and realized that Dio had arrived home. Seeing him entering the living room, they looked at each other for a while before she looked down and continued sweeping the floor.

"Tomorrow. Are you doing something?"

She stopped her sweeping and raised her head to her brother. She tilted her head. "A bit. Why?"

Her brother still gave her a neutral look. "The church, I presume?"

She nodded. "Yeah. Why?" She repeated her question.

"Let's talk tomorrow."

She frowned. "Okay. But why tomorrow?" Surely, they must have some spare time for today since Dario was asleep?

Instead, Dio gave her an irritated look and glared. "_Tomorrow._" He said with finality in his tone and went towards the kitchens, probably cooking for their dinner as he disappeared from her sight. She shrugged. If she is going to find out tomorrow, might as well leave him alone for now.

That night, the three had their dinner—not together since they had their own time of their 'dinner' and ate separately while Sky had to spoon-feed Dario since, _apparently,_ he claimed his hands no longer work as 'his own' when she knows he can use it fine on his own when he used it to grip and gulped down the bottle of alcohol which was unceremoniously put at the side of his bed, not even attempting to hide it from her.

And then the siblings went to their room together since they both shared a bed as they wordlessly lied to their bed and slept each other back-to-back.

* * *

_**Observation, DIO**_

* * *

Dio will never understand why Sky continues to go to the church every Sunday in every week when all they do was stand, sit, kneel and pray. He never saw the importance behind it but apparently, Mother and Sky saw it in their eyes. He scoffed. Ridiculous. All they do was waste time and not do anything; they just keep yapping about nonsense and listen to some fat old man in front of them as he would repeatedly preached about the saying in the Bible and give some long winded speech.

Whatever. He doesn't care. But, even if he doesn't care, he had to admit the structure of the church was one of the beautiful thing he had ever seen. The mosaic art of the church, symbolizing the birth and death of Jesus Christ, was engraved in the every walls. He may hate the church for what it is but it doesn't mean he won't appreciate beauty in every art, after all, they say that art represents humanity's vivid imagination—who could never see the magnificence it embodies to every art other than him, Dio?

At least the sight of the magnificent beauty in front of him, he tolerates being in the church as he waited for his sister to come out after the Mass inside. He had to ignore some vendors who tried sell him their candles and pretended to be uninterested at everything except for his occasional glance to the church.

Perhaps this one was Sky's plan to not be in their father—no, _Dario_'s presence and have some 'spare' time without that man's filthy breathe that constantly reeks in alcohol. Dio refused to be thrown out of loop. If that was her plan, then he would force himself into it. If she wanted to be free, then he should be free; if she wanted peace, then he should be in peace. This was an unspoken rule between him and Sky. Just like Mother said to them, they had to watch each other, protect each other because they only had each other. If they get separate, they will search one another. If one of them gets lost, one should search the other. They may not be siblings by blood but they are one by bond. No matter what happens, they should held each other's hand and walked together in their path.

_Outrageous._ Those were his first thought when he heard it. So what he gets lost or she gets lost on the way? They can take their own road and move forward however they like. And also, if his sister would get lost, she would never complain a goddamn thing about it. She would silently go back to her tracks and return where she came from—did their mother seriously think they would not use common sense in that situation? He is not stupid; _both of them are not that stupid._ Mother made sure of that they would never grew as one.

But, despite Mother's ridiculous words, he would sometimes found himself obeying it without knowing—only to realize it a little later. Probably because they grew up together, Sky was the one Dio trust the most. Even though they don't see each other's eyes at times, Sky was the one who would understand him and in return, Dio was the one who understand her the most. Despite the lack of the so-called 'love' between them, _trust_ was one that made them tied together. If the world collapses around them, Sky is the only person he would allow to hold his hand despite not liking the idea of it.

_But…_ he chuckled ironically, _if the world actually ends._

Seeing a crowded people finally walking outside the church, he immediately saw a certain white-haired individual among the crowd and grasped her arm without warning, feeling her stiffened under his touch, as he dragged her inside the church, deliberately going against the flow of crowd, tightening his grip to Sky before they finally freed themselves. Looking left and right of the few people left inside the church, he loosen his grip in her arm, but still not letting go, and dragged themselves and forcibly sat her in the first row of seats, following behind her and sat beside her. Looking at his sister, he saw her rubbing her arms to ease the pain of his grip as he grunted at the sight, looking away from her, waiting for her to do her business and sat patiently until she was done.

"You startled me, Dio. You should have called me first before you grabbed me. I thought I was being kidnapped there or something."

And there was his cue to start.

"_If_ you were kidnapped right there, I would advise you to beat them up. They don't need you mercy, not everyone deserve it. Anyway, you remember what I told you yesterday, right?" He crossed his arms, already predicting what she is going to say next.

She blinked at him. "Well, yeah, I did. You wanted to talk. Is there something do you want to talk? Why do you want to talk? Is there something wrong that you want to talk it out?"

He inwardly smirked. _You're too predictable, Sky. _He always found it amusing when she does her barrages of questioning.

"Sky. Next time when you talk to someone, you should refrain from giving them multiple questions. Didn't I told you before, one question at every breath?"

She pursed her lips and nodded at him. "Okay, I get it. Uh… what do you want to talk about?"

_Good, good… she's learning. _"It's about _Dario._"

"Father?" She blinked, startled at the sudden topic of their filthy father. _Well, he can't blame her._

"Don't worry. We're not talking about _him_ at all. We'll be talking about his situation and _our _situation."

She stayed silent, looking at him with a frowning contemplation of her face. "What… about our situation?"

This was what he was talking about. Just like he doesn't like to be locked out in the loop, he _doesn't _want her to be locked out of it too. He doesn't like explaining things to her that already happened because he _knows_ that Sky will notice it and ask him nonstop.

"You notice under our bed what I've collected these past months, right?"

She stared at him, as if trying to search something. "…yeah. I've been wondering about that. That was lots of money, you know. I counted it all."

His eyebrow twitched in ire. _Not just she noticed it, she even counted it without him knowing…_ Well, that's fine. He thought. It makes things easier with his explanations.

"How would…" he glanced at her for her reaction. "…no. I'll be blunt. I will use that money against Dario."

He looked at her trying to process his words in her brain. "Why… what… how… how would you do that?"

_Curiosity killed the cat,_ he thought amusedly at her. _But too bad the cat has multiple lives._

"Well, why don't you figure it out yourself? If your _observation_ is right, perhaps I'll…" He paused. Perhaps he will what? What is he going to do with her? He can't come up with anything to go against nor beneficial for her.

She looked confused but she responded anyway, "Okay. What about our situation you talked about?"

He hand waved. "If the money went well, it's gonna make our lives better."

"We're gonna make ourselves orphan?"

He snorted. Well, she is not wrong about that. "Something like that."

She tilted her head. "Is that…all? What, I thought you were going to tell me something big. That's disappointing."

He didn't respond. Instead, he stood up from his seat. _Oh, it is something big. She just doesn't realize that._ He considered this talk between them as warning for her. "Let's go."

She followed after him. "Yeah…"

Dio walked towards the entrance, his hands tucked in his pockets. He halted when he didn't hear any footsteps following after him and looked back behind him to see Sky standing in front of the altar with her back facing towards him. Instead of going to her side, he waited for her to move.

"Dio. If what I think is what you thought you were going to do with our father…" She turned around to him. "Would that make me a greatest sinner?"

He stared at her eyes before he closed his own eyes and faced his back to her. "Everyone is a sinner. You being a greatest sinner won't change a thing."

Seeing her nodded at him solemnly, he let Sky passed him as she walked ahead of him. He looked at the large sculpture of a man who had his arms spread out with a halo around his head and a cross behind him. Dio turned his back to it and walked away.

The first thing he did when he went outside the church was spit on the ground.

* * *

The first thing he noticed when Dio arranged the bed for him and Sky was the bookmarked Bible put in the corner of the bed. He always noticed Sky reading the bookmarked section of the book before she went to sleep. He realized that she didn't read it last night, possibly forgetting about it. Since his sister was busy feeding their father in the next room, he decided to take his time and opened the bookmarked section of the Bible. His eyes immediately flew to the highlighted words and read it.

_If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing._

_Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, and it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trust, always hopes, and always perseveres._

_Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. For now we see only a reflection, as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known._

_And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love._

"Ah… I'm tired…"

Dio immediately closed the book and put it where he found it and continued his arranging of the bed when Sky entered their room. He saw her collapsing in their bed, fixing herself in the corner before she grabbed the Bible and read it. She closed it when she is done and her breathing became rhythmic, signifies that she already fell asleep.

Seeing her like this, he went under the blanket and lied beside her with his back facing her. With his mind keeps reminding of the words he just read earlier, it wasn't long after before he finally went to sleep.

_Love? That's absurd. Love doesn't solve anything. Not everything at all._

* * *

**But I know I'm strong from all the trouble I've been through  
the story starts where the story falls apart with you  
**—_Dreaming Alone by Against the Current feat. Taka from ONE OK ROCK_


	3. Practice

Ratings changed from T to M. I think this speaks for itself what I'm planning for this fic + risky, spicy content I'm sure you guys are gonna yell at me for (with an accurate term of 'flaming me to hell'). And updates will be bi-weekly; two chapters per month. I also changed the title from _**Unconditionally, LOVE**_ to _**Apocryphal Beloved**_.

Happy New Year everyone! Let's hope this new decade will be kinder to us compared to the previous years.

(Chapter unedited.)

* * *

_**Practice, DIO**_

* * *

Dio looked in disbelief at his sister. "_What?"_

Sky sighed almost dejectedly as she snatched his hand and put something in his palm. "_I told you. _Since my white hair was apparently _very_ appealing to the barbers at barber's shop, I thought I should sell it to them and cut my hair to exchange for money. After all, if you still haven't used that money stashed under our bed, you still wanted more, right? So here it is! My contribution… for our better future."

He looked at the paper money in his hand, rolled and tied by a rubber band. He looked up and observed at his sister's new hairstyle. Before it was a straight long white hair reaching to her hips since she haven't cut it off four years ago after their mother's death, now her hair was short and she's currently wearing a bob cut with curled ends tucked in behind her ears. He watched her kept running her hands through it as if longing and trying to get used to her new short hair and scratching her neck in nervousness and tension. He hummed in approval at her new appearance. That's good. Since her previous long hair always gets everywhere in their pillows, prickling his face than he would've liked, there should be less hindrances when both of them goes to sleep tonight.

"Thank you, Sky… you've always like helping out, aren't you?"

She shrugged with a smile. "You're welcome. I like helping out because I liked the feeling of it and the smiles I received. That's why, Dio, you should smile sometimes, okay?"

People may say this side of her as charming and appealing but to him, he always found it infuriating. Doing something without receiving in exchange? Showing kindness who doesn't deserve it? Being good at someone who obviously treated you badly? That's just an unnecessary pity; a pointless act, a meaningless deed of illusionary selflessness who you just wanted to look down on someone below you. Moreover, it's an exploited act that can be abused if you carelessly throw it to nobodies who doesn't earned that respect—a respect that his sister showed of her innocuous generosity to him who wanted the same wish as him; to have a better life without their shitty father. And he would never allow someone to receive this act of hers when he knows she would get used because of this certain type of deed.

"Sky. Do not thoughtlessly give this compassion to nobodies who is not worthy of your mercy. Not everyone deserves it. You should be mindful who you are going to befriend from now on."

"I know, Dio. You always tell me that since… I can't really remember." She laughed nervously, running her hands to her hair. "But don't worry. I can't really talk to the strangers since I don't have a nerve or courage to approach someone I don't know. I'm not actually carelessly giving it away since I only showed kindness to you. Didn't I told you to always smile sometimes? It's fine if you don't do it to others, I just miss the Dio who always smiles to me and Mother. I just want… to be happy... _us_ to be happy… you know?"

He closed his eyes. So that was the case of her kindness, huh…? "Move on, Sky. I can smile when I want or cry if I feel like it. I can't fake nor trick myself to be happy if it's nothing what I'm feeling right now. Listen, Sky, you have accept reality what is happening right now. You can't just ignore it. We have been living miserably as long as we can remember, and I can't just _be glad_ in our current situation."

Sky didn't say anything at first before she replied silently, "But we can't _just_ wallow in the negative side in our circumstances. After all, if we want a better life, we have to be positive—"

"_Sky!"_ He exploded after hearing her_ idiotic_, naïve words. "Face reality, you idiot! Since when you and I are _actually _content in our lives? Because of Mother? Because we were taught to be together? Snap out of it, we don't even get along with each other! Ridiculous! Happiness is ridiculous, I dare say! A smile is not enough for us to be content!"

"Reality? Are you asking me to face reality? Happiness is part of reality, you stupid Dio! I'm not asking you to ignore one side to another, all I want for you is to see both sides!" His sister shouted in return. "We don't have to drown ourselves in this shitty situation we got, I'm not blind enough to look away from this. That's not the reason why asking you to smile, I just want you to see the positive side because it's not all that lost and we still have hope!"

Dio felt his anger rise when he heard the last word. Hope? Expectation for better lives? It is true he still got some hope within him but not in the way Sky expected from him. Yes, he is optimistic. Yes, he is anticipating but his hope doesn't dwell in the optimistic side than she would've liked. It is the prospect of hope about their shitty father experience a slow death is what he was _hopeful_ for. He doesn't care if their goddamned father was keeling over in his sickness he _hoped_ he would get _soon_ and just stay dead to become his stepping stone—_their _stepping stone as they leave their home behind, never looking back at their home full of wretched memories and burn it to the ground.

He turned around, facing his back to his sister, not wanting to argue anymore since he knows he would never win—_both of them_ will never win in this squabble. "Do whatever you want, just don't drag me into it. I can do whatever I want. Remember my words and never to show your compassion to nobodies who doesn't deserve it, got that?"

She scoffed. "Telling me to do what I want then asking me to never show kindness to others… you're so weird."

"_Sky."_ He hissed.

"All right, okay, okay! Geez…" She threw her hands in the air before walking away to do their chores. "Though, I wonder how he's going to react with my new hair…"

Hearing her muttering and wondering about Dario's soon-to-be reaction about her hair, he scowled deeply and sauntered towards their room and pull the stashed money under the bed. Dio counted it once again along with Sky's newly donation to it. Seeing it was more than enough to buy a _certain_ type of medicine, he grinned to himself in maddening delight.

Today will be beginning of the end of Dario Brando and the start of _their_ progress to the future.

* * *

"Here, Sky. Make sure that damn father of ours take this medicine I put in the tray after he's done eating his dinner."

Sky promptly took the tray from his hands before she paused and stared at the medicine at the tray. Looking up to him as if for a good measure, she lowered her head at the tray and started sniffing the medicine. Seeing this, Dio immediately pinched her nose and forced her to look up at the ceiling which she instantly reacted in pain.

"Ow, ow, ow! What was that for, Dio?!" She shook her head causing him to let go of her as Dio can see it already swollen under his touch. He silently wondered if he had pressed her nose together _probably_ too hard.

"Stop sniffing the food and go start feeding _him._ We got no time to waste." _And see what kind of reaction this _medicine_ is going to have._ He mutely added.

Sky sighed and started walking towards their father's room before she stopped in front of it. "So. The money is gone."

Dio only glanced in her way as he saw her enter the room and closing it behind her. Despite himself, he smirked at her comment, finding it amusing before he started walking towards their room.

_Yes, very good. Thanks for noticing, Sky._

* * *

_**Practice, SKY**_

* * *

As expected. Ever since Dio got that 'medicine' a few days ago, _Dario_ had been coughing nonstop and can't even get up from his bed—which he already _is_ bedridden but much, _much_ _worse_ than before—and most of all, he seemed to be quick to anger, his actions are now mostly driven by his temper to the point that she can't fight back nor avoid herself from it. It was the worst days of her life. She thought it was supposed to be make her—_their_ lives better according to Dio and that 'medicine' was supposed to help them but instead, she got the most beatings from their father just because she was the closest target in his vicinity and she can't run away from it.

She sighed, resting her head against the window, looking outside in her leisure since Dario was fast asleep in his room. Just where the hell is Dio? She can't help but noticed the constant lack of his presence in the house, as if he would just vanished without a word and then appearing himself behind her out of nowhere. She can't even count how many times she got startled because of him, it's not good for her health if he continues it.

She glanced up to the sky, seeing the blinding light of sun rising up to high noon. She sighed again. _Seriously, where the hell is he?_ Sky can't cook on her own—not because she _can't_ cook but because she developed some sort type of fear of it ever since that day when Dio _tried_ to teach her to cook as small drops of hot oil was splashed to her accidentally which hurt _a lot_ when it landed at her neck. It caused a three dotted scar—which both she and Dio found ironically since he had three dotted moles in his left ear and now she got one in the right side of her neck but only horizontally and felt as if they are now connected together despite everything.

"_Sky."_

She perked up when she heard her name. She looked left and right, wondering where it came from.

"_Sky. Outside."_

She turned her head at the window, seeing Dio looking up to her from the window. He curled his fingers, gesturing her come outside. She pointed to herself. _Me?_

He gave her a look. _Who else?_

Shrugging nonchalantly, she walked towards the door and went to Dio's side, wondering what he wanted from her, running her hands to her short hair which she is still not used to. For four years of nurturing, she had been taking care it as long as she can remember and now it was all but gone. It's like something was taken from her but she supposed it was just her since her hair would eventually grow to its former glory.

"What do you want? Where were you? Why did you call me outside? You know I can't cook and only you can do it? Why are you always gone—"

"Sky, remember what I told you?"

She stopped, blinking in thought before she understood. "Right. Uh… Why are we outside?"

"Here."

She took the piece of paper along with a rolled money from him, scanning the handwritten contents before she looked up to him. "…why?"

"I'm busy. And also, consider this as practice in your self-confidence. Make sure to buy the listed ingredients there and don't buy any rotten vegetables if you wanted an upset stomach. This would be our dinner tonight. Don't mess up."

"Wait!" Sky cried when she saw her brother walking away. "Busy? Why are you busy? Are you doing something? Why are asking me to buy this? _I can't cook_!"

"I'm _not_ asking you to cook. You are only buying the ingredients. If you're worried about lunch, there's still leftover from breakfast, I'm sure you can heat it up by yourself. But if you're wondering why I'm asking you this, let's talk tonight when there's only two of us."

"Wai…" She trailed off when Dio was already earshot. Looking at the piece of paper and the money, she pouted and huffed in exasperation as she walked to the destination of the market.

* * *

_How is she supposed to see if the vegetable is fresh or rotten? Does it relate to the outer appearance of it?_

She pretended to look at the array of vegetables while she contemplated silently in her head. Seriously, what is Dio thinking for sending her to buy vegetables? He should have known the whole time she doesn't frequently go out from the house because she doesn't like seen by others of her…'different' hair. They would certainly think her hair was bleached—according to the barbers when they first saw her—and give her a lecture for being so young while subtly insulting her parents for allowing her hair to be bleached. They would never listen at her words that her hair was _natural_ the whole time while saying it was a lie made up by her parents to allow her hair to be whitened. This was all evident in her first experience going out with Dio to accompany him until she no longer went with him because she was getting tired hearing other people giving her a word about her hair.

But… since her hair was now short, perhaps people would be a lot more merciful at their words if they saw her…?

_Wait, no._ That's not the actual problem here. The problem is _how is Sky supposed to see if the vegetable is fresh or not?_ Dio gave her a word to not buy rotten but how is she gonna that if she doesn't know what rotten is supposed to look like? She hanged her head dejectedly. Dio is gonna scold her if she's going to buy the wrong ones and all of them would get an upset stomach tonight. She scratched her head in distress.

"What's wrong, young lady? Are you struggling at something?"

She stood startled at the unknown voice before she looked up and realized it was the merchant in front of her. She laughed nervously. "No… I'm buying vegetables…"

"Really? You've staring at my goods for an hour now, are you sure you wanted to buy one?"

Her heart skipped a beat at those words, afraid that the merchant would send her away. "N-n-no! I will buy! I will buy one! I'm just… d-deciding, yes, I'm deciding!" She focused her gaze at the array of vegetables while pretending to look at the price before she pretended _again_ to look and pick up one to inspect it.

"Young lady, do you have a list with you? You don't have to pretend with me, I know you don't know a single thing what you're attempting to buy. Let me help you."

Sky felt her face heat in embarrassment as she gave the merchant the list and looked down to the ground while fidgeting. _She can't believe this person saw through her…_

"Hmm? Wait, this handwriting… This is Dio's handwriting! My, my dear girl, you know Dio?"

She blinked in surprise when she saw the merchant exclaimed in recognition as they looked at the paper. "He's my… brother."

They gasped. "Dio's… sister?! Oh my god! I can't believe the rumors are true! Dio does _have _a sister who is charming as him!"

She was taken back and blushed even harder at their words. "N-no! There's no way I'm—"

"Dio?! Did I just hear 'Dio' just now?!"

A door behind the merchant suddenly opened, revealing a girl who is the same age as Sky, wavy brown hair and brilliant green eyes and looked around as if searching for someone. She pouted. "What… he's not here. That's disappointing." With a frown, she closed the door behind her. Sky can only blinked in response, wondering what just happened.

"See? I told you your brother is charmer. My daughter, _Charlotte_, was quite smitten at him."

"I… I see…" She muttered in understanding before she frowned in confusion. _Dio? Charming? _She never found her brother _that_ charming but perhaps she was already immune to it.

"F…fairy…"

Sky felt someone touched her thigh as she looked down and saw a kid gazing their wide innocent eyes at her before she realized what he said. She pointed to herself. "Me? Fairy?"

"Ah, that's my son clingin' at you, _John_. Looks like my family is quite attached to you siblings. Why don't you try and lift him up… umm…"

She granted the merchants' wish and the raised the little boy up her arms. "_Sky_. My name is Sky."

"I see. The name's _Charles. Charles Fagerstorm_. Nice to meet ya, Sky."

She nodded at the merchant and smiled. "Yes. Nice to meet you."

"So… are ya gonna take that vegetable of yours or…"

"I will but…" She looked at the little boy in her arms who is tugging her hair with his little hands. "I think I'll stay here for a bit."

"A'ight. Make yourself at home then, Sky."

"Thank you."

"Fairy!"

* * *

"Dio, as promised, you said you were gonna talk with me, right?"

Both Sky and Dio are under the soft comforts of their bed, snuggling beneath their blanket as she faced the back of her brother and talked to him in low voice. Instead of facing of her, Dio shifted his body to face the ceiling.

"Oh, right. I nearby forgot. I still have to talk to you."

She raised an eyebrow. "Are you _that_ so busy you forgot about our talk tonight?"

"No. To be honest, I simply see it as a pointless and forgot about it."

She scowled at him. "_You're_ the one who suggested to talk and now you're seeing it as pointless?"

She saw his eyebrow twitched. "Don't you dare push my buttons, Sky, I _just_ forgot about it. It's natural for a normal human being to make a mistake and forget some things.

_Excuses, excuses… _She inwardly shook her head. "Oh, well. I'm more interested what you want to talk with me. So? What was the purpose of you sending me out to the market?"

Dio made a smirk as he side-glanced her from his position. "_Very good, Sky._ You're learning. I'm glad you didn't went to your usual barrages of questions but instead, you went straight to the heart of conversation."

"Huh? Yeah…"_ Why did he suddenly compliment her…?_

"Well… since it would be a drag to tell the whole story but let me ask you a question first. Did you met a merchant named Charles Fagerstorm?"

"What…? How did you know that?" Dio gave her a look. She immediately shut her mouth for another question before she responded. "Y-yes, I did…"

"And I assumed he recognized you with my handwriting?"

With those words, she immediately understood. "Dio… did you plan all this?"

"_Answer the question first._"

She reeled back a bit when her brother used his no-nonsense tone out of nowhere. "H-he did. I didn't know I was only a rumor and no one actually knew me."

"That's your fault, you idiot. You're always coped up in the house no one knew you actually existed other than me, Mother and Dario… and perhaps those so-called friends of yours in the neighborhood. Though, I'm sure they already forgot about you."

Hearing about those friends of hers, she can't help but feel down at the truth of her brother's words.

"…that's right. You're right, Sky. All of it was part of my plan. When Dario finally kicked the bucket and lost his hold to us, I've finally chosen a home suited for us. With his death, I'll make sure we'll live in prosperity under that family."

"What…? What are you talking about, Dio?" She blinked in confusion, the meaning of his words lost to her.

"Have you gone deaf, _you stupid Sky._ Read between the lines, idiot, there's a reason why I sent you out in the market. I told you it would serve as practice in your confidence_ and_ for you to meet the Fagerstorm family."

_Huh…?_ Then that means… "When that 'medicine' finally fulfilled its purpose… we'll be living with… _them?_" That much, she can understand but…

"That's right. I still don't know foster home works but the moment I will marry that merchant's daughter, I'll make sure to make prosper their business under my hands."

"Wait! Wait _just_ a minute…!" She was caught off her at his last few words. "_Marry?_ We're tying ourselves in their family through _marriage…?!_ Dio, I know you like planning but I didn't know to this extent…!"

"What, are you against it? It's fine if you don't agree with me. After all, when we become adults, we'll eventually get separated and settle down in our own family, right?"

_No, that's not… that's not I meant, Dio…_ Sky can't believe Dio had already thought this much and very, _very _ahead, even to the point of his adulthood. But, if he had already planned this much and imagined himself having a family, Dio must've been eager to walk away from this house and never look back to his past. Though, she was a bit disheartened she wasn't included in his plan, even just a minor one.

"But… to be quite honest, this plan of mine is still full of faults. We still don't know what the future had in store for us and you can consider this some kind of failsafe plan, a Plan B. It was desperate tactic I thought while looking around for pawns I could use for _our_ future…"

She stayed silent, not knowing whether she should be relieved or angry. But, at least, Dio managed to answer one of her question. And now for the other one… "Then, Dio, what have you've been into these days? You always vanish and appear like some sort of vampire trying to suck me dry behind my back, always startling me."

"Hmm? Ah… I was making money obviously. I got myself a job during the day."

"What kind of job?"

"You don't need to know."

She sighed, realizing Dio would no longer give her straight answer. "I see. That's good. With that money you will collect, it's gonna be enough when we leave the house, right?"

"…"

Seeing her brother didn't respond, she draped her arms and snuggled closer to him. She guessed it was already enough for now. And also, she's getting sleepy…

"Sky, what is your prayer?"

She forced herself to pay attention, despite half-awake. "Prayer…?"

"You pray what you want, right? What is it that you want?"

She sleepily huffed. "That's obvious. Better life, of course. And I want grow taller like you since you always help me when I want to reach something. And also…"

"Also?"

"…strong. Strong like you. I always look up to you, that's why, I want to be like you."

"…I see. Good night, Sky."

"Yeah… good…"

She wasn't even able to finish her words, registering a soft warmth enveloping her body before she fell into a deep sleep.

* * *

Several days later, Sky found out Dario Brando had finally met his end.

* * *

**And I thought that this is the triumph  
that I needed to move on  
I've blamed everything on you  
It's easy to just pretend  
**—_Mushrooms by Mili_


	4. Confront

Dio had been a mentor figure of Sky since then, which in turn, depended herself to him. But with the changes they brought upon themselves, will it stay the same?

(Chapter unedited.)

* * *

_**Confront, SKY**_

* * *

"Condolences from our family, my dear girl Sky."

She nodded at the merchant as she gave him a faint smile. "Thank you, Mr. Fagerstorm."

Sky gave the Fagerstorm Family a half-hearted wave as they went their way from the cemetery. She doesn't know how they managed to know about the death of their father but she can't exactly refused their condolences for them, even though the now dead _Dario Brando_ doesn't deserve it for all the things he did when he was alive. There's no doubt they are aware of his action but decided to comfort her—_them_—for the sake of pity for their circumstances.

Turning around to walk towards her brother, she went beside him and stayed silent as they looked down at the gravestone where _Dario_ _Brando _was engraved in it; an outmost evidence that their filthy father was all but gone in this world—a world where they didn't experience its beauty and splendor but know the cruelty and suffering they faced for being in the wrong part of history—a history of wrong choices and pain brought upon their family.

"Have you wondered, Sky," Dio started as she glanced at him with his face obscured by a shadow. "Have you wondered… no, have you wished for a world dwelled by stupid bastards?"

Sky gave him a wide-eyed confused look. _Where did that come from? _"No. If it does, the world would have never advanced from the stone age."

Dio let out a humorless laugh. "That sentiment is true but it is not what I meant. I'm talking about simpletons who doesn't know better for themselves. A bastard who would follow someone they feared because they wanted to live because they thought their lives should be controlled by someone better."

She shifted uncomfortably at the implication of those words. "A world dwelled by…workers…?" She immediately changed the word as she nearly said a certain term that started with 'SL' and ends with 'VE'. "If that's what you mean, no, I don't wish for it. I'm fine with the world for what it is—I don't really want to change it."

Her brother had strange expression on his face as he scoffed. "Fine with the world for what it is? I guess you are a simpleton too. You never even realized how the world made us suffer and allowed it to happen as if it was no one's business. Well, it's not like Earth had a mind of its own, it never really cared. I can hate it all I want or spite it for all I want and it would never respond at all to my actions. _Justice_? Tell that to someone who cared."

She never responded. Dio had this weird tendency to talk in long-winded words and she always listened to him in turn. She doesn't really get some of it at first—it would leave her wondering, occupying her head space for a few days before she would realize what he was talking about but she never approached him to further elaborate about it. She thought it would be silly to talk about it when it was just a passing conversation; mostly assuming to herself Dio had already forgot about it.

_Justice, huh?_ She would be lying if she said she had experienced fairness to herself. In a burst yet fleeting anger, a thought would sometimes cross to her from time to time what would happen if she fought back against the cruelty she received from her father. _Would it anger him further? Would he beat her harder? Would he leave her alone?_ She can still vaguely remember in her childhood when she heard loud shouts from their parent's room—back when Mother was still alive—and in the next days, Sky was puzzled to see Dario never left his room and Mother was smiling at them—as if nothing had happened from the night before.

_If she fought back, would it have the same effect?_ She's doubtful but she wanted it to be true if she did raise her hand against him.

_If, if, if—she always thought of a scenario with ifs._ 'If' means it was a choice she could have sought, 'if' means possible to do with herself, 'if' means she looked back at it in regret instead of picking the other. All can she can do is only think but never acting the picture she imagined in her head. She doesn't have the backbone to do it and ended up depending on Dio instead. Sky hated this part of her; her confidence was not made of steel but soft as cotton.

She smiled bitterly. _Perhaps_ _Dio is right. She really is a simpleton. A coward who can't stand up for herself because she never knew better._

"Anyway, Sky, there's a change of plans." She raised her head at those words. "Here. It's easier for you to read than explain it to you."

Blinking, she grabbed the letter held out by her brother, seeing it was addressed to them—_Dio Brando & Sky Brando—_by their now deceased father—_Dario Brando—_written on it. Glancing at Dio for elaboration, he just waved his hand and gestured her to read it. Opening the envelope, she wordlessly read the contents of the letter.

And everything about their circumstances immediately changed.

* * *

_Joestar, Joestar, Joestar… _no matter how much she thought about it, she can't get glimpse of familiarity from the name. Though, her ignorance is mostly her fault since she never been outside to gain enough knowledge. She sighed, stumped at their new situation. With sudden revelation their father wanted them to live with the Joestar through the letter, she was feeling conflicted at his written will. _After all this time, Dario actually had the capacity to think about them—Dio and Sky—about their future?_ It was almost unthinkable. Almost. Despite silently insulting her father in an almost daily bases, Sky reasoned this actions as his one final act as their father—or should she say, what a Father should have done to their children—his eccentric way of showing this type of deed, albeit, only posthumously to them.

_Is this the reason why Mother didn't leave him alone on his own?_

She don't know. If the reason for her—_their_ Mother's inability to leave was for the sake of 'love', she can't possibly know. After all, she still can't discern what 'love' truly is despite what she had read.

"That must be the Joestar residence." Dio commented, seated across her as he peeked outside from the carriage window. He laughed to himself, almost condescendingly. "As expected from a noble family. A 'house' would be an understatement especially if your home is literally a mansion."

Following his actions, Sky took a quick peek at the window and her jaw dropped in fascination at the sight. She responded her brother's words despite her bewilderment. "What the…? We're going to live there from now on?!"

"Sky." She shifted her attention to Dio when he called her as she saw him donning a serious look. Seeing this, she leaned away from the window and sat briskly and nervously. "From now on, we'll be living there as you said. But remember this, don't get distracted at the expensive, shiny things by the people living there as their house decoration or their body decoration. Despite these beautiful things, they are replaceable to the point that their existence are meaningless."

She tilted her head. "I got that, Dio. But why are you telling me this? Do you have something on your mind?" _Since Dio liked planning, he must have created one already in his mind…_

Dio gave her a dubious look. "Are you sure you've read the letter properly? _Dario_ said we ought to become rich and live gloriously for the rest of our lives. I'm planning to make his words real to the point of living through it so that I can spite him despite him being dead." He started to laugh with tinge of madness in it. "You get it? Living through it despite him being dead?"

She laughed distantly at his attempted joke. "Very funny, Dio. So? Is there… do you want me help you in some ways?"

He crossed his arms, returning his expression to a serious look despite he was laughing just a second ago. "No. You've done enough, Sky, there's no need for you to aid me." He was silent for a while, looking at the side of the road with downcast look before he responded. "I noticed this but I never talked about this to you but…" he glanced at her with a neutral expression. "Why did you no longer go to the church anymore?"

She made a small gasp in surprise at those words. _After all this time, he actually noticed… _"How… did you know that? I made sure to leave outside at the same time when I go to church every Sunday, how did you realize that?"

"That's just an unnecessary detail. Tell me your reason why you're no longer going to the church anymore."

_He's not going to tell me? Fine. _She crossed her arms defiantly. "I won't tell you unless you tell me how you knew that. After all, it's fair like that."

"…fair, you say…? Fine. If you won't then I won't."

Seeing him twitched and closed his hands to a fist, an epiphany came to her as she observed her brother. Dio was the type who talks a lot and he was most active one between them, where she prefers a passive role, taking a stride behind him while she looks over his shoulder as he stood in front of her, taking all the attention to himself. Perhaps maybe because he likes talking or 'charming' according to the merchant, she realized that her brother doesn't want anything that goes against his words. Despite words seems to be roll out from his mouth naturally, there's sense of meticulousness in him that makes you compelled to follow after his words because there's a certain sense of trust within it. And when someone tried to contradict him using his own words, just like she did to him a few nights ago, he made the same reaction as he did in front of her now; twitching eyebrow and a rebuttal of denial.

Having this realization just now, she covered her laugh behind her hand. Who would never thought her brother got this cute side of him?

"What? What are you laughing at?" Dio asked in genuine confusion.

Sky continued to chuckle in her hand. "Nothing special. Just seeing something… in a new light."

He raised an eyebrow to her.

She just smiled at him.

—then in her peripheral vision, she saw someone with a kind face in front of the mansion.

_Who is that? _Sky wondered as the carriage arrived to their destination.

As soon as the carriage stopped, she jumped in surprise with a gasping yelp when Dio kicked the door open loudly as she saw him immediately jumped away, throwing his bag first at the ground before landing gracefully in front of the boy she noticed earlier. Least to say, she was… unimpressed at the sight of this.

_Dramatic entrance, Dio. Good job._

Wearing their formal attires in this special occasion, Dio was wearing his best suit with the navy blazer and pants while Sky wore her mother's modest white long-sleeved blouse and bellowing long black skirt. Among the dresses Sky found in her mother's closet, this one was her favorite because of its simplicity.

"Oh, you must be the twins, right? Dio Brando and Sky Brando?"

Turning her head to see it was the kind face boy who greeted them, Sky curtsied to him in return. Even though Sky and Dio weren't biologically related, their Mother registered them as twins to avoid complications of their birth. Despite the disparity of their appearance, no one blinked an eye to them as though they were related the whole time.

"And you must be… Jonathan Joestar." Her brother coolly regarded him.

"Everyone calls me Jojo. It's nice to meet you."

_**Worf! Worf!**_

All three of them turned their heads as they heard the barking coming towards them. Jonathan beamed when he saw the dog and kneeled to the ground at the hyperactive animal. "Let me introduce you, this is Danny. He's my dear pet… ah! Don't worry, he'd never bite anyone." He hurriedly added.

A dog, huh? Dio never liked dogs but Sky sure does. "What a cute dog, isn't he?" She commented with a smile.

Jonathan returned the gesture. "Yes, he is! He's my companion ever since—"

Jonathan wasn't able to finish his sentence when he heard a painful yelp from his dear dog as he turned his head and saw Danny whimpering and backing away from Dio. Seeing this, Sky threw a worried glance at her brother as she saw him scowling at the black-spotted dog.

"Danny, what's wrong? Are you hurt? Why are you whining?" Jonathan anxiously approached his dog as Danny continued to whimpering in pain as he trembled in fear, glancing his beady eyes at Dio.

Catching the reaction of the animal, Sky silently walked to her brother as she raised her hand and pinched Dio by the face. Hearing him shout in pain, she immediately let him go and wholly received his glare.

"What was that for, Sky?!" He whispered-yelled at her.

"I know you did that, Dio. I had to pinch you."

"What the hell…" Dio muttered as he rubbed his face. Sighing, she crossed her arms and touched her face worriedly.

Even though that was a small slight, Sky had a feeling that her brother was going to misbehave further. And his so-called plan to set into course.

She decided to keep an eye on Dio from now on.

* * *

_**Confront, DIO**_

* * *

The plan was supposed to set into motion smoothly. Yes, it was supposed to. But because of the major flaw he realized to himself—_Pride—_that he carried to himself, the plan fell apart through his hands and was unable to grasp any further. Moreover, one of the most provider of his failure was his sister's interference—no, to be more accurate, every time he did something as small as a slight, Sky would confront him and punish him physically. Like twisting and pinching his sides or his face. Occasionally, she would stomp his feet forcefully, causing him crouched down in pain as he looked up to her and see her face shifting to an expression that he should have saw it coming and he deserved it.

And with the recent actions Dio made today, stealing the courtesy of someone's first intimate gesture—an act he found baffling of its importance to the ladies—he was seating across Sky in the living room where all the residence of Joestars are already fast asleep in their respective rooms. The reason Dio was here because he responded his sister's call to meet near the fireplace, and physical punishment was already expected from her.

"Seeing that Jonathan made a quick work on you, looks like there's no need to raise my hand on you."

Dio huffed, glowering at her despite the bandage on his face. "You sound like Dario just now."

Seeing his sister's eyebrow twitched in ire, he inwardly smiled in triumph to himself.

"Dio, that's not my point." Sky sighed heavily, face palming tiredly. "I've been asking myself why you're doing all these things to Jonathan. Did he offend you in some ways? Did he do something to you? If you had a reason why you're doing these to him, I would have forgave you. But… all of this… why are doing these deliberately on him? Isolating him from his friends, taking away his friends for yourself and now, you're stealing the rightful kiss for Jonathan from his girl? What the hell is wrong with you?"

Mentioning the kiss, Dio smiled knowingly to her. "Sky, did you know stealing a kiss is equal to stealing a woman's virtue?"

Sky frowned in puzzlement. "What?"

"Erina Pendleton. That was the woman's name whom Jonathan was enamored with. Who would never thought that a simple act was enough to destroy a woman's pride in front of her loved one, as if she had cheated on him behind his back?"

"That's… I guess, that's what you would expect from noble families…? Wait! That's not the point! Don't you dare distract me from the topic, Dio, you idiot!"

Despite his whimsical plan to distract her, he smiled as he relished at his sister's reaction. "Amusing, isn't it? For someone who stood at the top, they possessed fragile ego enough to be brought down by a series of simple acts, unable to fight back because of their reputation? Or was it because of their ego…? Humph. I don't know if that's the case but one thing for sure is that they are goddamn cowards."

Looking at the direction of his sister, he was mildly surprised she stayed silent while he talked, expecting her to explode in anger. But considering her personality, it was unlikely that she would do that. Compared between them when he does most the work, Sky was inert and passive, preferring to see what happens in front of her rather than act. And depending on the result, there are rare cases that she would move forward to solve the problem herself.

_That's why Dio hated Sky's submissive side. It makes her look weak._

"Dio, tell me the reason why doing this to Jonathan. If you do that, perhaps I'll let you go and I won't torment you further."

Dio was caught off guard when Sky said those words weakly as if her strength was drained to the ground. He decided to respond cautiously.

"What's wrong, Sky? Are you tired?"

"Just…" she yawned widely. "…answer the question."

With that gesture, he realized why Sky was tired all of sudden. Seeing her gradually crumpling like an old woman, he silently watched as her eyelids fluttered into shut and her chest rising and falling into a familiar rhythmic breathing, falling asleep in the couch in a rather uncomfortable position. Raising himself to stand up, Dio walked around the table that was positioned between them, he sat beside her, plopping his elbow behind the sofa, putting his face to his closed fist and stared at his sister as he pondered.

Sky Brando_._ His twin sister and a relative and yet not born through his Mother. They were unrelated by blood yet tied by bond, tangled to together because they only had each other. Even though he accepted her as if she was his own blood, he wondered if Sky had regretted to be picked up by his family—_Brando_—harboring tranquil hatred to them because of the hardships she suffered through this family. But being with her and growing up with her, it seemed to an unlikely case. True, they were episodes of anger but it wasn't targeted to them with ill will. Rather, it seemed to be for their own good because, despite the cruelty she faced, a sense of morality and understanding continued to get stuck to her, willing to see the goodness in every people in spite of everything.

_Why is she always like this?_ He found himself to ponder about her from time to time. Why does she not shear the world with her anger for what fate had given to her? Hatred, wrath, grief… this was all a sufficient weapon against the world for what it made her suffer.

_You are too kind, Sky. And kindness is the result of weakness._

Under the layers of his emotional judgement about her, Dio found her simply repulsive. Her passive and cowardly personality, she was just revolting. And yet, there was no sense of hatred nor anger he felt towards her. It was a contradiction, he was fully aware of this, and because of it, Sky was a bizarre existence. She lacked interesting qualities but also didn't lack uninteresting potential. Possibly because Dio had observed her better than anyone else, he had a feeling that Sky was holding back the whole time, like she was afraid pouring her arsenal in the field of war. It was… frustrating to see her always held herself back. Dio thought it was a waste of existence when Sky should have significance in the world, and it would be amusing to see if she let her negative emotions control her and suffer the world for what it made her through.

_And that would have been a beautiful sight._

Sky was a beautiful individual by appearance alone, it would be simply an ignorance if someone said otherwise. Dio doesn't know where she got this ethereal radiance she possessed, whether from her biological mother or father, and somewhere in the bottom of his heart, he was thankful that he was given a beautiful sister to accompany him. If he was given an unpleasant individual as his sister or brother… it would be better if he doesn't thought about it.

Dio raised his hand and caressed the face of his sister by the back of his hand. Sky was a heavy sleeper, there's no way she would notice something so gentle and soft as his finger trailed her face of her contours. Yes, if she did notice something so trivial like this, he would be already slapped hard by his actions. Running his hand through her short hair, he realized that Sky still took care of her tresses despite its shortness. Even though her hair was only recently cut, the tips was already reaching her shoulder blades, already growing a few inches in a matter of days.

_Truly, what a bizarre existence you are, Sky._

"Sky, if you sleep here in that position, you will be waking up with a stiff neck." Dio told her loudly in her ears as she began to stir from her brief nap. Seeing that his sister haven't opened her eyes, with his hands still close to her face, he squeezed her nose until she woke up from her small nap, startled awake.

"Wha…? Did I fell asleep?" She groaned as she rubbed her eyes. "I must be tired, huh? Uh… what was I doing here again…?"

Seeing that opportunity had presented itself in front of him, he wasted no time and instantly seized it. "You were telling me why you no longer went to church anymore."

"Ah, that? I was… guilty, I guess… ever since that medicine of yours took effect, I feel bad… of sorts. I don't go to church because I was afraid that… people will know what I'm—no, we're doing with our father. Because, essentially, we're killing Dario, right? I don't even read the bible anymore I'm afraid that… God would sent a heavenly punishment to me."

That make sense. Considered what they were doing to their father, Sky felt she was the greatest sinner to reign in the world.

"Did you forgot what I told you, Sky? We're already sinners by default, and nothing will change if you became the greatest one among us."

"Yeah… you're right. Nothing will change but… what about my feelings? Am I supposed to ignore it…?"

He sighed and inwardly shook his head. _Kindness. And because of it, this is the result._

"Go back to sleep. The pain will eventually go away and it goes the same what you're feeling right now."

Wordlessly, Dio carried his sister to her room and put her in the spacious bed. When he was about to turn around, he was caught by his hand, rending him immobile as he looked back.

"Just today, let's sleep together. I mean, it's been a while… right…?"

Despite the silent protests his brain was making, Dio laid beside Sky as they faced each other comfortably.

"Sky, what's your prayer?" A random question came to him.

"You're asking me that again? A better life, become taller and… uh… what was it again?"

He smiled despite himself. "Strong?"

"Yes, strong! Strong like you!"

_That's right, Sky. That's why…_ "…if you want to become strong like me, you should exercise diligently."

She blinked. "Eh? You do?"

He deadpanned. "Did you seriously assumed I got this muscles by doing nothing?"

"No, it's not like that. It's just… I never saw you exercise…"

"That's your fault, idiot. You rarely went outside even we already moved in this big-ass mansion."

"B…big-ass…? Is that a metaphor? I hope that's a metaphor."

"What else it should be? What, are you seeing anything big-ass around here?"

"Um… no."

"Then that should be obvious."

And for the first time in their lives, they talked in great lengths to each other during that night before they fall asleep in the same bed.

* * *

Dio decided to savor this peace and curbed his own pride for now to befriend Jonathan Joestar for his another plan to set into motion.

* * *

**Places, places, get in your places  
Throw on your dress and put on your doll faces  
Everyone thinks that we're perfect  
Please don't let them look through the curtains  
**_—Dollhouse by Melanie Martinez_


	5. Confidential

Sorry for the lack of updates last month. Was busy.

A span of three years happened in this chapter. During first POV, they're 13-14 years old. Second POV, 14-15 years old. Third POV, 15-16 years old. And no animals were harmed in this chapter :)

(Chapter unedited.)

* * *

_**Confidential, JOJO**_

* * *

"Here, Danny! Fetch!" Jonathan threw the stick in the distance. His pet dog, Danny ran enthusiastically to the direction where he tossed the object.

A smile grew in his face as the animal went out of sight, knowing Danny would have a great time searching around the stick, get distracted whatever caught his attention before he would return to him. It had been always like that, he thought, sitting in the yard while waiting for his dog to come back to him and stare off at the distance. Mind empty for thoughts, not knowing to do for the day other than waste his time.

"Is Danny with you?" A familiar voice called.

He didn't have to raise his head who it was. "Playing fetch with him. He's currently there." Jonathan didn't point a finger. Danny could be everywhere. "What are you doing here, Sky?" He asked when he felt the presence sat beside him.

"Nothing." The white-haired beauty shrugged. "I had nothing better to do. Well, it had always been like that."

Jonathan laughed. It's true. Sky was not the active person he knew. She likes doing nothing to do. "That makes both of us then."

"True."

Comfortable silence blanketed them. Sky Brando, he thought, was vastly different from her twin brother, Dio Brando. The most obvious was she didn't torment him like her brother did a year ago. That series of incidents still left a scar with him, unable to heal, his mind refusing to forget. What made him fought back was a breach of pride of his loved one, Erina Pendleton whom he had never seen again as he found out her family had gone abroad, for their daughter had her own peace of mind, to not face shame from others. And most of all, from him, her parents told him before they left.

Jonathan missed his chance to comfort her. He doesn't care if Dio stolen her lips. He doesn't care about that. All he wanted was for her to be his side. When he was lonely, when she was there with him. She made him smile, she made him forget what it felt like to be alone. And he just wanted her. Her, Erina Pendleton.

Really, he seriously missed his chance to take her back.

"Danny's back." Sky told him, successfully breaking out of his distant regret.

Raising his head, he can see the black-and-white spots of fur in the distance as Danny ran back to them. He forced to wear a smile and stood up. In his peripheral vision, Sky did the same as she ran her hand between Danny's ears, huffing happily under her touch. This put a genuine smile on him. Yes, she was a drastic experience, he thought as he gaze after her back when they walked back to the mansion. From Dio's arrogance and Sky's kindness; he had to admit it was actually the siblings that made him put a different kind of experiences. Ever since they had arrived in his life.

He heard a saying that negative aspects are most remembered in your entire life. Thanks to Dio who made a testament to that, it was the dark times of his life. When it comes to Sky, who had approached him many times during that time with encouragement to never lose against her brother, the words he received from her was all but a blur. Darkness weighed heavier than light, it seemed, and he was ashamed when he barely recalled anything.

But not everything. Jonathan was reminded of a strange conversation between them. Was it before or after, it was left into a question when it happened. It was too weird to forget, he thought.

"Remember, Jonathan," He can still the touch of her fingers as it brushed to his lips. And then she pulled it away and lightly touched her own lips. It was an indirect kiss, he can scarcely remember but Sky called a Seal of Promise. "Don't tell anyone about this."

He nodded. And then words came from her shocked him.

Unrelated by blood. Abuse and bruises. Money and church.

_The truth._

The siblings had suffered through painful hardships. Sky had prayed for salvation, she told him, the Grim Reaper gave it to them. And then Dario Brando died from alcohol poisoning. On his dying breath, a letter came to them. That was how they arrived in the Joestar household.

"I'm really sorry for what Dio made you through," faint words came out from her, coated in regret. "I'll apologize on his behalf. He's too proud to do that." Sky bid her farewell to her after that.

He doesn't know what to think from that. Was he supposed to express pity on Dio? Was that an excuse for his atrocious acts he made against him? It seemed unlikely. Dio is too proud, Sky even said that, and he carried those deeds with him without remorse, head held up high. It was an attempt to make him understand what kind of person Dio was. That was Sky's intention.

And she trusted him for it.

He gasped. How could he forget about that? "Sky, you're not doing anything today, right?" Jonathan asked. They had stayed with Danny enough. It was time to go somewhere.

She cocked her head. "Yeah. Isn't it already obvious?"

He smiled. Good. "Come with me. I'll show you something." Jonathan half-led, half-dragged her to a certain location.

If she trusted him, then he should return the favor.

* * *

Jonathan's classmates doesn't like Sky. They found her as an annoyance and a hindrance. They actually had a good reason for it, Jonathan confessed guiltily, since he shared the same feelings in the beginning. Eventually, he understood why she always raise her hand and inquire some answers. It was in her nature. She can't possibly cast it aside from her but Dio actually found a solution to that. He always did. Dio knew his twin sister better than him.

"Don't ask for an answer over smallest things," he watched Dio lectured Sky. "Go for the big one. The great one. The most important one. I always said that to you, didn't I? People doesn't remember unnecessary things, they always go for the noteworthy. They ignore what doesn't caught their attention."

Sky listened her brother's advice to heart. While it didn't made her friendly enough, his classmates' former feelings of irritation was replaced with tolerance. They got used to her questions. Some silently admitted they depended on her unabashed attitude for _their_ problems. If they wanted to ask, Sky was doing all the work to see answers.

He doesn't like it. Jonathan wanted them to interact with her, to give her thanks, offer her gratitude. Sky was fine with it, she had told him, and perhaps there were shy with her, she added. Being bashful was out of question. He knows they didn't like her because they refuse acknowledge her.

When there's no one a move, Jonathan made a promise to himself. A hundred-fold appreciation, a thousand-fold gratitude and an infinite-fold friendship. This was all he can give to her. Nothing else.

"What are we doing here?" Sky's breathless pant came beside him. "That was a long run."

"Sorry, Sky," he smiled apologetically, "I had to avoid the eyes of other people." He knows she had questions. It was evident in her expression yet only frowned puzzlingly at him. _A two thousand-fold gratitude,_ he smiled as he opened the door. "Come in." he invited.

It was a spacious room. A queen-sized bed and a humongous window to see the landscape outside. It was clean inside, mostly the maid had been here long ago, Jonathan noted. Lightly walking to the bed, he knelt down and pulled the drawer beside it before smiling when he saw the familiar object inside.

Sky stood by the door awkwardly. "Um…"

"I already invited you in. There's nothing dangerous in my room." He promised.

She pouted. "That's the point though…" she muttered and sat on his bed. "You said you'll show me something. What is it?" Sky crossed her legs.

"I said there's nothing dangerous here. That includes me." Jonathan received her stare. He doesn't want her to feel guarded around him. "I wanted you to trust me, just like you trusted me with your secret."

Her spine bristled. "You still remember that?"

He tilted his head. "Am I not supposed to?"

"Never mind." She crossed her arms. "So what is it?"

A gloomy look went through him. Looks like he was unsuccessful to make the lady secure with him, he thought. But he had no choice. This was the only way. "Here." He sat beside her and hand over the object.

Sky inspected it before she raised her eyes to him. "A stone mask?"

Jonathan imitated what she had done to him before. Brushing her lips with his fingers before touching his own. "This is strictly _confidential._" He whispered.

There was a horrified look on her face. "You even remembered…"

He blinked, confused. "What is?"

"No, never mind." That's the second time she said that, he thought with an eyebrow raised, watching her shaking her head. "So what does this stone mask had to do being _confidential?_" she asked.

Promptly, Jonathan took the stone mask from her. Pulling the knife inside the drawer, he immediately calmed her down when he saw she was about ran away from him. He sliced a small graze from his finger, enough to draw blood. He pinched his finger as a drip of blood trickled to the stone mask. The object trembled at first and he knew what was going to happen. Jonathan glanced at Sky worriedly.

The stone mask leapt for a few inches from the floor as razor sharp, claw-like spike grew at the edge of the mask.

Sky immediately climbed to his bed in fright.

"Don't worry! It won't hurt you!" He watched her crawl near him and grasped tightly his arm. Jonathan patted her hand comfortingly. "A drop of blood and this is how it reacts. Nothing more, nothing less." He said softly.

She never drew away her attention from it. "Reminds me of a spider." she murmured.

Jonathan understood. She doesn't like spiders. Hairy legs and multiple eyes. If he was a lady, he would be equally scared but he had to man up. "But it doesn't look like a spider. Look," he pointed, the spikes withdrew as quickly as it appeared. "It's just a mask now."

"But it doesn't look like an ordinary mask," she keenly reminded. "Where did you find it?"

"This one seems to be from my mother's," he took the mask from the floor. He stared at the fangs from its mouth. "Father said it's antique. Just a house decoration but I said otherwise. He doesn't know I had it with me. I don't think he would yell at me for this but I had to hide it just in case. This mask is… bizarre."

"It does." She agreed. "So this is your secret you entrusted on me?"

He nodded. "Yes. Sorry if I made you uncomfortable. That wasn't my intention." He said in remorse.

"It's fine." Her white hair glowed along with her smile. "I know you are no pervert, Jonathan. I'm just confused why you brought me here." She clarified.

Her words stabbed through his pride. "A pervert… It _is_ inappropriate to be bring a lady to man's room, doesn't it?" He realized, horrified at his own action.

She laughed halfheartedly at his reaction. "You're a gentleman, Jonathan. Don't forget that. Your father didn't raise a pervert."

"Stop that, Sky…" His cheeks was aflame at her unserious accusation.

"Alright, alright…" Sky chuckled before turning her attention to the stone mask resting in his hand. "You know what this reminds me?"

"A spider, right?" Didn't she said that earlier? Jonathan thought.

"At first, yeah." She admitted with a laugh. "Taking a close look, it's actually sinister looking…"

It was his turn to jest. "Well, spiders looked sinister…"

"No. Not like that." Jonathan forced his joking attitude when he saw her frowning, thinking look. "The fangs on the mask, doesn't it remind you of _something?_"

"Something…?" He caught on her insinuation but he had no idea what she was talking about. "Of what?"

"The _fangs,_ Jonathan." She directed a wide incredulous eyes to him, making him feel stupid. "Are you sure you do not know?"

"Tiger…?" He lamely guessed.

"_Vampires._ I'm talking about that." She puffed a sigh, as if aggravated. "It reacts to blood, right? What others thing does it react to?"

"Just blood, I think." But still he was doubtful. "But Sky, vampires doesn't exist. Perhaps it is related to bats." He suggested.

"But does it _look_ like a bat?" She hovered her hands to the stone mask in his hands. "That's a human face. With fangs. And it's _alive_ somehow. If it wasn't alive, those spikes wouldn't have grew at all but it did. How would you explain these supernatural qualities from this, Jonathan?" She challenged, almost accusingly.

He… can't really deny those words. It's true it possessed strange abilities and it reacts to blood as if in hunger. "I don't know, Sky. I really don't know but…" If he doesn't know about it then he had no choice. "I'll look up to this." He said strongly.

Sky was taken back at his resolve. She can only offer her smile. "I'll look forward to your results then." She encouraged.

Jonathan returned the gesture. "Leave it up to me."

* * *

_**Confidential, DIO**_

* * *

Sky's hair had gotten longer ever since two years ago when she first cut it and sold it.

Dio looked at the back of her head as he sat behind her. Her hair was put up into a half-updo, the upper half twisted into a bun while the lower half was free tumbling like waves, resting and sprawling on her back like a second layer of cloth. Stealing a strand of her white hair, he brought it under his nose and smiled at the familiarity.

Lemon-scented. His sister never changed.

It was lunch break and as always, in the courtyard at the back of the school, the four of them lounged here. A less grand picnic, but a picnic nonetheless. His sister, Jonathan, him and lastly, his girlfriend.

Charlotte Fagerstorm. The Merchant's Daughter.

It seems like the merchant, Charles Fagerstorm had enough money to send his daughter to a prestigious school. The Hugh Hudson Academy. Incredibly suited for a woman like her. Vain and haughty, like the self-conceited students attending this school. That's why he liked her. No sign of purity, unashamed for his attention to him, to the point of seduction. Who could deny a _rotten _beauty like her other than him, Dio?

As usual, Charlotte dragged him off the moment they were done with their lunch. Like an insistent lover she is, she never wasted time and caress her hands everywhere. He let do whatever she wants, not really in the mood to reciprocate. While she forcedly leaned him to a wall, familiar voices entered his ears nearby.

"Jonathan, are you sure about this?" Sky's faded voice asked.

"I'm sorry, Sky," said Jonathan's voice. "This… us… I really can't do it."

That put a bitter taste on him. Just like him and Charlotte, Jonathan and Sky are together. An unknown incident made them grew closer together. He doesn't know what. He doesn't like being locked out of the loop. He always did. When he asked his sister, it was _confidential_, she said, and nothing can convince her to talk to him about it.

Dio swallowed his grunt when Charlotte bit him. He scowled at her. He is _seriously_ not in the mood like _this_.

"It's okay." He returned his attention to them when he heard Sky. "To be honest, I feel the same too. I guess being friends suited us together instead of being like—well, _together_ like Dio and Charlotte." He heard her reluctant laugh. Jonathan chuckled. Dio's eyebrow twitched when he overheard it. "What about the stone mask?"

Now _that_ caught his attention when Sky changed the subject. "Nothing much." Jonathan sighed. "It feels like a dead man's dead end. I'm still analyzing it though."

"Have you anything that seems to be related to vampires?" Dio raised an eyebrow to that. "Anything in the history perhaps?" She asked.

"_Fictional_ history, maybe. But no, there was nothing. The vampire mythos was interesting though."

"Like what?"

"Being burned under the sun was common but heightened eyesight was something I didn't know."

Sky scoffed. "Well, they had to adapt in the dark. Of course, they would have that."

"No, nothing like that." Jonathan pressed. "They see _and_ count. No matter how small the object is. For example, one look at the fallen leaves at the ground and them immediately knowing how many had rested there." He explained.

There was silence, processing his words. Even Dio. "Sounds like an accountant." Sky mused.

"Sounds like _you."_ He can feel a smile from Jonathan's tone.

She laughed. "A Vampire Accountant. Sounds like _me_, right?" said Sky.

After those words, the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch break. "The end of break," Sky said distantly. "And the end of relationship." She said jokingly.

"I'm really, _really_ sorry about it." Jonathan profusely apologized.

"Nah, it's okay. I told you I felt the same. No hard feelings. We're still friends, right?"

"Yeah…"

"Then let it go. Come on! We're gonna be late."

Footsteps faltered away from them. When they are gone, he pushed Charlotte away from him. "Dio?" He can hear his partner's confusion as he walked away.

"We're gonna be late." Dio said without turning around.

"Yes!" Charlotte enthusiastically followed after him.

Really, the heart of maiden are easily swayed. Shallow and useless.

* * *

Dio doesn't know what sort of madness had possessed him that night. With a light rap on a certain door in front of him, the face of his sister came in his sight, eyes wide on him. "Dio?" Sky said with furrowed eyebrows. He entered himself in her room and seated on her bed.

Sky stood by the door awkwardly when she closed it behind her. "Um… what are you doing here?" She nervously asked.

"Nothing." That was the truth. He had no reason. "I was just thinking of visiting you. That's all." This one is also true.

"Huh." She looks unconvinced. He can't blame her. "Well. Since you're here, let's talk." She muttered, sitting beside him.

And there was his cue to start. "I overheard."

"Of what?"

"You and Jonathan. About your relationship."

"…oh."

Hearing a mild reaction from her, Dio found himself disappointed. He guessed he should have expected this since she doesn't lashed at everything. Unlike Charlotte who seems to be always offended _at everything_. "I'm sorry about that." He tried his best to look apologetic.

Sky looked bothered at those words. "Don't do that, Dio. You don't apologize. What _exactly_ are you doing here?" She asked accusingly.

He raised his hands in defeat. "Does it hurt to act like a brother to you?"

"You've never acted like my brother in the first place."

Refusing to flinch at those honest words, he rested his back on the bed, facing the ceiling. "Just let me stay here. My room is suffocating." He told her as he felt her lying beside him.

"It is?" There was confusion in her voice and also curiosity.

_No,_ he almost said. His room was plenty comfortable for him. He was just making an excuse to stay. Reasons be damned because he _had_ to. "Does it hurt you for me to do that?" He said instead.

"Not really." She shrugged before hoisting up. He watched her saunter to the window and perched herself there like a bird.

"You'll fall." He warned as he sat up.

"I won't." smiled Sky. "Besides, I stay here until dawn when sleep doesn't claim me through the night."

He perked an eyebrow. "You can't sleep?"

She shook her head.

Dio almost made himself blinded at the radiance Sky currently possessed with her. She wore a negligee that hung to her shoulders, showing her slender neck. Her hair flowed free behind her as well some stray strands making their way to her naked collar. Her grey-blue eyes and white hair seems to glow under the moonlight while she look ahead at the distance outside, distracted and unaware of the stare he gave to her when he assessed her appearance. Another strange madness had possessed him once again and he found himself standing in front of her and wholly received her surprised eyes.

"Dio?" She tilted her head up to him.

As if waking up from a trance, he averted his eyes from her and leaned at the wall beside her, the cold air caressing his face. With a question hanging above his head, he decided to speak it up. "Why did you and Jonathan break up?"

"We can't get pass the barrier, I guess…" A breeze lightly passed them. "Our friendship is stronger than love, I think, and we can't see each other seriously as lovers. Like you and Charlotte for example. Physical touch can't even suffice it. It only make us awkward. Jonathan always looked distracted and I wasn't interested in it. We just had terrible affinity with each other perhaps. So…" She shrugged with finality.

_Dumb and foolish Jonathan,_ he found himself cursing at her former partner. It seemed like Jonathan can't get out his innocent first love, Erina Pendleton, from his dimwitted brain that he was willing to ruin the relationship Dio thought was going smoothly, seeing how happy they were with each other's presence. _Stupid Jojo,_ he found cursing at him again. Sky is more a realistic choice than Erina who is miles away apart from him yet his love seemed to fly away with that woman, he scornfully thought.

"But Dio," Sky broke him out at his furious daydream. "What _is_ love really? I always ask about that myself. It's the reason why Mother didn't left… _Dario_, right…?"

Now it has been a while since they've talked about their _filthy_ father. It was like an unspoken taboo between them. He didn't expect Sky would raise a topic about him. "I like to think Mother stayed for our sake, that's all. Let's not talk about him anymore." He said coldly. The presence of Dario had long left their life. There's no need to talk about the dead.

Sky shifted beside him. "Sorry. I just wanted to why Mother did that. Anyway, going back to—"A loud gasped entered his ears and he noticed her falling backwards.

Dio never moved faster in his life. Quickly as he could, he darted towards her and snatched her away from the window. He wrapped his arms around her, protectively and securely, backing her away from near-death of fall, his sister's remains splattered at the concrete ground below. He shook the image from his mind when he felt her shaking under him. He almost sighed in relief. Almost. He refused to show that.

The trembling that shook her body gradually subsided as she found the strength to wrap her arms in his torso. "I'm sorry." She apologized, voice muffled. "I should have listened."

"Let's not talk about the dead anymore." He comforted in a form of warning. "It invites death in your doorstep."

He felt her move under him as she nodded. They both laid in the bed, cuddling each other since Sky refused to let him go. As he put his face at the crown of her head, Dio finally realized what he was here for.

To smell her lemon-scented hair as he sleeps beside her.

* * *

_**Confidential, SKY**_

* * *

Her prayers had been answered. Sky had become taller.

Submerged in her bathtub, the upper half of her face just under her nose was floating above the water. She set her eyes on her legs protruding from the tub. Her hair swimming around her like a halo, making her think she was a drowning angel in a small ocean. When the small ocean was just her bathroom.

Three years of avoiding the church with her best abilities, she wondered if she should become a devout follower for her granted prayers. Ridiculous, she thought to herself, this is just her body naturally growing and she is only approaching the cusp of adulthood. Pointing the reason of her development to God seems to be a bit ridiculous. While she acknowledge God as the creator of the universe, it still made her wonder why His presence—Him Himself—are constantly felt by other people when he wasn't here. It was the belief and faith that church followers believed for His Second Coming, or so they say. That He will come back to this world.

_God must have not loved this world if he left us to our own devices,_ Sky speculated.

They say love is the greatest. She remembered the words of the Bible she memorized when… She frowned. Dio told her to never speak of the dead but the dead are always evoked through memories. She can't possibly forget the existence of Dario Brando, their father, and the painful beginnings of their life. Especially Mother who endured him with all of her being.

_Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trust, always hopes, always perseveres._

_And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love._

But love doesn't solve everything, she realized that. But she agreed love is kind and patient. Love itself is not envious nor arrogant nor evil. How this _love_ are used by people makes the perception of this feeling are distorted when it was just an innocent thing the whole time. Love is good, she knew that. But it was the hearts of men that makes it tainted.

There are many kinds of _love_, her teacher told the class in a certain lesson. Romantic love, erotic love, familial love, friendly love. The definition is very abstract, nothing can ground it to a certain and just meaning; it was always an intangible emotion.

If Sky wanted to present an example; Dio and Charlotte had romantic and erotic love in their relationship. Their unashamed and bold actions to touch each other are the very evident of this. It always make her jealous how casual and blatantly they show this to others.

She and Jonathan had a shy presentation of familial and friendly love. They can't get pass and 'upgrade' their relationship like Dio and Charlotte since they were more comfortable to be just friends. Sky can't help but feel Jonathan already had his heart captured by another. The only person she can come up was Erina Pendleton who gave him light during his dark times. A feat that Sky failed to attempt.

Embarrassment came to wash over her when she remembered a certain night she thought Jonathan won't ever remember but did. She was startled at that time when he suddenly came sauntering to the kitchen, while she stood frozen in the spot with the cold ice cream slowly melting in her mouth. She was hungry and was craving for something cold and sweet, and the ice cream was the perfect solution.

When she saw him, Sky was afraid Jonathan might see her as a thief, a mongrel who doesn't deserve to eat quality foods for a mere Londoner like her. As she realized that he was sleepwalking, she sighed in relief and tried to walk him back to his room. She was bewildered when he refused and cried on her shoulder when he hugged her.

He was delirious at that time. Word after word, expressing his anger and sadness to her, and she was bothered to realize that he was opening himself to her. Seeing this, she thought she would do the same gesture and tell him the truth, with a touch of white lies. Along with the Seal of Promise.

She likes to think that night was the start of their strange friendship. And it was reinforced when he showed her his 'secret' in a form of antique stone mask. It was a bizarre event, she thought, with a bizarre object. The mask scared her but Jonathan seemed to be determined to find the true nature of it, especially its supernatural aspect. _How did his mother get her hands on it? _She wondered.

Heaving a sigh, she leaned her head back at the tub. _Well, she had no idea nor Jonathan's mother thinking wh__y she __took it with her._ Blinking back the drowsiness in her eyes, she gave up and closed her eyes.

* * *

"Miss Sky, please wake up."

Sky had fallen asleep and she was awoken by sundown. She thanked the maid who dressed her with the white negligee before she was left to fend off on her own room. She sat beside the window, no longer perched to it. She had brought a chair next to it a year ago when she can still remember when she almost,_ almost_ fell to her death if only Dio wasn't with her.

Her memory to that night still left her shaken. The feeling when she lost her balance and slowly descending backwards from the window and the image of her bloodied body plastered on their still made her startled when she dreamt about it. She had frequently visited Dio sometimes Jonathan to their rooms just to ease it.

A knock echoed in the room. She stood up and opened the door. "Dio?" She was surprised at the sight of his brother standing in front of her. It gave her a certain déjà vu for some reason. The only difference was the look of irritation twisting his face. She backed away when he forcibly entered. "What's wrong?" She asked, closing the door.

"The stone mask." Her brother said sharply. She stiffened. "What is it?"

"It's _confidential._" She replied tightly.

"Vampires, I remember you say that," she muted the gasp from her throat. "Why are searching about it?"

"Dio, wait, _wait,_" She was confused at the sudden questions directed at her, "why… when… how… where did you hear that? Why are you asking me about that?" She tried her best to look confused but she knows he will only glare through her façade.

"Don't act dumb with me, Sky, because I know you are not. To answer your first question, I heard it from you a year ago. The second, we don't hide secrets with each other and I _demand_ an explanation."

"From me? I never spoke to you about that," she was getting thoroughly confused, "and _second,_ I can't because I made a promise."

He scoffed. "Promise? Promises are meant to break, this one should be no different. It must have been an empty promise, I'm sure."

"It's a promise of _trust_." She said hotly, glowering. "I can't break it carelessly."

And then he showed it, so suddenly in front of her, his audacity expressed through his smirk. "_This _stone mask? Oh, I can break it _carelessly._"

Anger boiled her veins. "Go back outside that door and apologize. Grovel into Jonathan's feet if you will." She told him with clenched teeth.

Dio mirrored her welling emotions. "_Apologize?_ You should know better I _do not_ apologize, Sky."

"Then don't use that to threaten me!"

"I wouldn't have used it if you answered me!"

"You—!" Her rage rendered her speechless for a moment. She briefly noted it has been a while since they argued like _this_. It was like a balloon waiting to be pricked by a pointed needle. Then an idea came to her. "Then swear to me, Dio! Swear in the name of our Mother! As long as you don't destroy the stone mask, not even a single scratch, I will answer all your questions." _But I didn't say honestly,_ she inwardly smirked.

"Then in turn to that; promise me, Sky," he cocked his head arrogantly while wearing his smirk, "Promise me you'll answer me genuinely with every fiber of your being. And if you do, the stone mask will remain untouched."

Time waited to a standstill for Dio.

Sky wished to go back in time for her mistake.

Of course, it was natural for them to know each other's weaknesses. This moment between them showed that. Pride for Dio and holding a promise for Sky. They had used it against each other to attack, glaring and glowering to see who backs down first. _Dio expected me to do it first_, she thought, but she won't. He wanted her to _grovel_ at his feet. Sky refused to do that, not anymore. It should be _him_ of all people to learn how to be on a losing side.

Startled, she saw Dio marching forward to her. She apprehensively backed away until the back of her knees stumbled to the edge of the bed, knocking her down to the soft covers. As she half laid there, she attempted to raise herself but her brother was already on her with the object of their argument close to her face. Smoldering gold met icy silver. She glared. "Drop the stone mask away. Scaring me won't receive you answers." She said with finality, eerily calm. "If you won't apologize, then put that back to its rightful place."

He only gave her a condescending look. "Don't change the subject. The matter was simple. A swear to a promise. A promise for an oath. Don't put your cowardice on me. They say honesty is the best policy. So why don't you?"

That struck a chord on her. "Damn you," she cursed. She can't believe he would pull that card. He's trying to guilt trip her. "No. No matter what you do to me, my answer is still the same. You can't convince me to say otherwise." Despite that, she steeled herself, as gallant as a knight with a sword on hand.

Irritation twisted his handsome face once again. A soft _thud_ collided on her chest when he threw the stone mask at her. "Fine. Be stubborn as you can. But that won't get you nowhere. I'll find the truth somewhere. _Trust_, you say? Let me tell you, trust is_…_" He paused, his face shifted.

And then, she saw it. The look of betrayal.

A loud _thud_ in the room when he left her to drown in her guilt.

It took her a few minutes to regain her composure, and she found herself washing her face, looking at her haggard appearance in the mirror. She looked at the stone mask resting in the sink, glaring and cursing at it. Was it really worth for keeping the promise and make her the traitor in Dio's perspective? She sighed, feeling the strength fleeing from her.

Perhaps a strange madness had her possessed that time. The more she looked at the mask, she more wanted to wear it. And she did. The strangely heavy stone mask on hand, she hovered it on her face and looked to the mirror under the cracks where the eyes was positioned. Then she gasped, startled, nearly slipping her hold from the object, frightened she might accidentally break it. She turned to look at the mirror, and frowned when she saw her grey-blue eyes.

Strange, she thought, because she saw red eyes peering under the mask.

* * *

**Ordinary life alluded me for my duty you are losing me  
You are one of my few weaknesses  
But this girl has deep allegiances  
In the meantime the shields are down  
I'm in a special place  
Survivor.  
**_—Cage by SawanoHiroyuki[nZk]:Tielle_


End file.
